Portable bases for miniature sewing machines



March 31, 1959 E. w. JONES 2,379,734

' PORTABLE BASES FOR MINIATURE SEWING MACHINES Filed Sept. 9, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Edmund W. Jones WITNESS March 31, 1959 E. w.- JONES 4 PORTABLE BASES FOR MINIATURE SEWING MACHINES Filed Sept. 9, 1955 3 heets-Sheet 2 iiillllliilll mmvron Wlmss BY EI'W. JONES March 31, 1959 PORTABLE BASES FOR MINIATURE SEWING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 9, 1955 mmvron Edmund W. Jones TORNEY PORTABLE BASES FOR MINIATURE SEWING MACHINES Edmund Wood Jones, Radford, Va., assignor to The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N .J a corporatlon of New Jersey Application September 9, 1955, Serial No. 533,464 Claims. (Cl. 112-258) The present invention relates to a portable base for a sewing machine and particularly for a miniature or child-size sewing machine.

There are several problems that arise in the use of a miniature sewing machine. One of the first is that the machine, which is hand-operated, must be heldin place. One of the hands of the operator must'be used to operate the machine and, if the machine is not clamped to a support, the other hand ofthe operator must. be used to hold the machine. Therefore, the operator cannot guide the work during sewing. (llarnping the machine to a support is not a completely satisfactory remedy. In practice, since the machine is usually clamped to a table top or other similar support where it cannot be permanently mounted, it is normally put up and taken down after each use. This chore militates against the use of the machine. In addition, these machines are usually operated by children and children often fail or are unable to clamp the machine properly or tight enough to the support. v

In accordance with the above, his a primary object of this invention to provide a portable base to which a miniature sewing machinecan be permanently mounted, which base will properly support the machine during operation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a portable base for a miniature "sewing machine that will facilitate handling and storage of the machine.

Additionalobjects of this invention include the provision of a portable base for a miniature sewing machine having means for storing sewing paraphernalia and having a bed-plate extension that willincrease the'worksupporting surface of'the machine, which extension can be readily positioned to provide for the sewing of tubular work about the bed-plate'of the machine.

Having in mind the above and other objects that will be evident from an understandingof this disclosure,'the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangernents of parts as illustrated in the presently preferred embodiment of the invention which is hereinafter set forth in such detail as to enable those skilled in'the art readily to understand the function, operation, construction and advantages of it'when readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of a miniaturefsewing machine mounted upon a portableibase incorporating the present invention, which base is, in turn, mounted upon a support, and in which view the bed-plate extension has been'swung to the position in which. tubular articles can be sewn. i

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the portablebase as illustrated in Fig. 1 butwith. the bedrplate extension swung to its operative position and with the miniature swung, to an inoperative position andillustrating' the storage area internally thereof.

States Patent 0 Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the portable base per se.

Fig. 5 is a side, elevation view of the portable base having a miniature sewing machine, mounted thereon and illustrating the same in a carrying position.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but illustrating how the portable base and machine can be. mounted upon a wall by means of a hook for purposes of storage.

The sewing machineillustrated in the drawings is similar to that. forming the subjectmatter of the US. design patent of Mai-sac et al.,, No. D. 158,113, April 11, 1950. This" machine is well known and sincev the mechanical details of this machine do not form any part of the present invention itis' disclosed only briefly.

'The. illustrated machine includes a rectangular base 1 having a boss 2 with a V-shaped groove therein where.- by the machine is normally clamped to a support. A pedestal 3 rises from the base. 1 andhas formed integral therewith a bed 4 to which is secured the bed-plate 5. The upper surface 'of the bed-plat e 5 comprises the worksupporting surface of the machine. Also formed integral with the base 1 is a bracket-arm. 6 terminating in a head7 in which is jour'naled for. longitudinal reciprocation a needle-bar 8v carrying a needle 9 at its lower end. The needle 9 cooperateswith a' rotary wing-type looper 10 carried by the bed 4. The machine is operated by a. handle 11 on a crank-wheeh 12 journaled on the end of. an arbor .13 that is secured in the frame. of the machine.

The miniaturesewing machineis mounted to a rectangular base-plate" 14 ofa'fportable base, indicated generally at 15. The machine, is. secured to the base-plate preferably by foursc'rews' 16arranged one at each of the corners of the base 1 bfthe. machine and extending downwardly through the. basel into thebase-plate 14. In Figs. '3 and4, the position of the machine on the base-plate 14 is indicated by the dotted lines 17 and the holes in the base-plate 14 for. receiving the screws 16 are indicated at 18. The underside of the base-plate 14 is covered by felt 19 or any suitable antifriction material to preventsliding of the base-plate 14 relative to a supporting surface during operation of the machine.

A bed-plate extension, indicated generally at 20, includes an upper surface or extension plate 21. Arranged normal to the upper surface 21 along three of the side edges thereof is a continuous U-shaped-depending wall consisting of a. pair of opposedside walls 22 and 23 and an end-wall24. The upper surface 21 is provided with a cut-out 25 conforming to the configuration of the bed-plate 5 of the sewing machine so that the upper wall will closelysurround. the periphery of the bed-plate. The walls 22, 23 and 24 are dimensioned so that when the bed-plate extension is in its operative position in which it is overlying the base-plate 14, as indicated in Fig. 2, the upper orworksupporting surface 21 is substantially in the plane of the work-supporting surface of the bed-plate 5-of the sewing machine to form one continuous surface therewith.

The bed-plate extension20 is pivotally mounted on the base-plate 14.by,means of hinges 26 (Figs. 1 and 4) which are recessed in the endwall 24 and base-plate 14 to be flush with the outersurfaces thereof. The bedplate extension is held in its normal operative position by means of a c1amp27 consisting of a sheet metal stud 28 secured to the base-plate 14-and a cooperating spring clip 29 secured to the side wall 22 of the bed-plate extension.

During operation of the sewing, machine, the portable base will be placed-upon a support, such as the top 30 of a table 31 as illustrated in Fig. 1. Normally, the bed-plate extension 20 will be swung to aposition overlying the base-pla te 141as.illustrated..-in.Fig. 2 in..which 3 T the upper surface 21 will be used in conjunction with the bed-plate 5 as a work-supporting surface. To provide for the sewing of tubular work pieces, the portable base 15 is arranged at the edge of a support, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and the bed-plate cxtensionlt) is swung about the hinges 26 into the illustrated position in which the bed-plate extension 20 hangs downwardly from the hinges 26. In this position, the bed-plate 5 of the machine is exposed so that tubular articles may surround the same in stitching relation.

With reference to Fig. 3, the inside of the bed-plate extension 20 is adapted to receive various articles of sewing paraphernalia. Toward this end there is provided elastic tapes 32 secured to the underside of the upper surface 21 by tacks 33, which tapes'are designed to hold such articles as a pair of scissors 34, instruction booklet 35, and needles 36. Along the inside of the side wall 22 there are provided threewire right-angle hooks 37. The short legs of the hooks 37 are threaded and screwed into the wall 22 and the long legs are disposed parallel to the wall 22. Each of the hooks 37 is adapted to support a spool of thread 38. The free ends of the hooks 37 are arranged toward the upper surface 21 so that the thread spools cannot fall off the same. To insert a spool of thread onto one of the hooks 37 and to remove it therefrom, the hook is turned so that the free end thereof is spaced from the upper surface 21.

To the left of the machine as seen in Fig. 4, the baseplate 14 is provided with a rectangular aperture 39.

The aperture 39 provides access to the space between the base-plate 14 and the inside of the bed-plate extension 20. This space can be used for holding articles such as pieces of work. With reference to Fig. 5, when the portable base is held with the base-plate 14 vertical, the work pieces can readily be inserted through the aperture 39 into the pocket-like space between the base-plate 14 and bed-plate extension 20.

To the right of the machine, as seen'in Fig. 4, the base-plate 14 is provided with a rectangular aperture 40 which, as seen in Fig. 5, serves asa hand-hold, whereby the portable base and the attached machine can be conveniently carried. The base-plate 14 is also provided with an aperture 41 for receiving a hook 42, Fig. 6, mounted upon a wall 43, whereby the device can be hung on a wall for storing the same.

The present portable base may, of course, be readily made of many inexpensive materials such as wood or plastic.

Numerous alterations of the structure herein disclosed will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understood that the present disclosure relates to a preferred embodiment of my invention which is for purposes 'of illustration only and not to be construed as a limitation of the invention. All such modifications which do not depart from the spirit of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

l. A portable base for a miniature sewing machine comprising a base-plate, a bed-plate extension, and hinge means pivotally securing said bed-plate extension to said base plate to provide for swinging of said bed-plate extension between an operative position parallel to and spaced above said base-plate and an inoperative position to one side of said base-plate, said bed-plate extension comprising an upper surface having a peripheral edge and opposed side walls and an end Wall, said upper surface having a sewing machine receiving cut-out extending inwardly from the edge thereof at a point opposite from said end walland conforming to the configuration of the bed-plate of a selected miniature sewing machine, said side and end walls depending from said upper surface and resting on said base-plate whensaid bed-plate extension is arranged in operative position,

2. A miniature sewing machine comprising a base, a pedestal rising from said base, a bed-plate carried by said pedestal, and a bracket-arm overhanging said bed-plate, a portable base for said sewing machine comprising a base-plate, means for fastening said sewing machine to said base-plate, a bed-plate extension overlying said base-plate when in operative position and having an upper surface, opposed side walls and an end wall, said upper surface having a cut-out substantially conforming to the configuration of said bed-plate, said side walls and end wall depending from and being arranged normal to said upper surface and being of a height to position the upper surface substantially in the plane of said bedplate when said bed-plate extension is in operative position, and hinge means pivotally securing said bed-plate extension to said base-plate to provide for swinging of said bed-plate extension between an operative and inoperative position.

3. A portable base for a miniature sewing machine comprising a base-plate, a bed-plate extension, and hinge means pivotally securing said bed-plate extension to said base-plate to provide for swinging of said bed-plate extension between an operative position parallel to and spaced above said base-plate and an inoperative position to one side of said base-plate, said bed-plate extension comprising an upper surface having a peripheral edge and opposed side walls and an end wall, said upper surface having a sewing machine receiving cut-out extending inwardly from the edge thereof at a point opposite from said end wall and conforming to the configuration of the bed-plate of a selected miniature sewing machine, said side and end walls depending from said upper surface and resting on said base-plate when said bed-plate extension is arranged in operative position, and means on said bed-plate extension in the space between said base-plate and said upper surface for supporting sewing paraphernalia.

4. A portable base for a miniature sewing machine comprising a base-plate, a sewing machine receiving area on said base-plate designed to have a miniature sewing machine secured thereto, said base-plate having to one end of said area an aperture serving as a handhold, said base-plate extending in both directions longitudinally of said area, a bed-plate extension having an upper surface, opposed side walls, and an end wall, said upper surface being congruent to the base-plate from a line transversely of the base-plate intermediate the ends of said area to the end of said base-plate opposite from said hand-hold aperture, said upper surface having a cut-out therein substantially conforming to the configuration of a selected sewing machine, said side walls and end wall forming a continuous U-shaped wall of constant height and being arranged normal to and depending from the edge of said upper surface and supporting said upper surface in spaced parallel relation with said base-plate at a height substantially equal 1 to the height of the work-supporting surface of the selected machine, hinge means pivotally securing siad end wall to said base-plate, and latch means for releasably holding said bed-plate extension in normal operative position on said base-plate.

5. A portable base for a miniature sewing machine comprising a rectangular base having an aperture toward the one end thereof, said aperture serving as a hand-hold for carrying said base, a bed-plate extension having an upper surface, opposed side walls and an end wall, said upper surface being rectangular and having a transverse dimension equal to that of said base and a longitudinal dimension less than that of said base, said upper surface having a sewing machine receiving cut-out formed inwardly thereof from a transverse edge and said end wall being disposed at the opposite end of said upper surface, said side walls and end wall forming a continuous U- shaped wall of constant height and being arranged normal to and depending from the outer edges of said upper surface, said side walls and end wall supporting said upper surface in spaced parallel relation with saidbase-plate, hinge means pivotally securing said end wall to said baseplate, latch means for releasably holding said bed-plate extension in normal operative position on said base-plate, and means on said bed-plate extension in the space between the upper surface and said base-plate for supporting sewing paraphernalia.

1,875,177 Osann et al Aug. 30, 1932 6 Thompson June 5, 1934 Schaefer Mar. 12, 1935 Zonis July 29, 1947 Colegrove July 18, 1950 Bell Aug. 21, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS France July 30, 1945 

